PORT ANGELES — More than 470 took advantage of services offered at Friday's Project Homeless Connect in what the coordinator said was the best-attended of the event's four-year history.

The number who attended at the Vern Burton Community Center, figured by the number of name tags provided, is a record, said Mercy Luquetta-Cole, event coordinator for the Clallam County Homeless Outreach Project.

“We've never seen this before,” she said, noting that last year's attendance was 356.

“Because of Homeless Connect, many were able to obtain as many services in one day as would otherwise take months,” Luquetta-Cole said.

Gathered in a single location were 52 local and statewide service providers and about 120 volunteers to offer free help to those in Clallam County who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

“I think it was a great success,” said Kathy Wahto, one of the army of about 120 volunteers who made possible Friday's event.

Free services

Wahto, also the executive director of Serenity House of Clallam County, said those she spoke with at the event were not all literally homeless but were there to get certain services, such as flu shots or dental care, that they wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise.

Wahto said she noticed the SmileMobile, which typically provides free dental care to low-income children around the state but was open to all ages Friday, was particularly popular.

“I was just amazed at the amount of work [the SmileMobile dentists] were able to accomplish,” Wahto said.

“[Dental care] is a crying need for poor, single adults.”

A team of five dentists, five dental assistants and two dental hygienists provided free care to 32 people during the day, Luquetta-Cole said.